The end of the semester promises holiday fun — and grades. Time to reflect on the semester in all its glory: the good, the bad and the ugly.
The Student Association and Student Assembly: D
President Matt Landau’s “An SA for everyone,” his plan to make the SA an organization that reaches out to all students, has seen little progress and is perpetually mocked. Landau’s potential mayoral run has also become a punchline.
When the possibility of tuition hikes was originally raised, Binghamton University’s student representatives did not gauge their constituents’ opinions.
Then, when an attempt to eliminate the vice president of Multicultural Affairs position was made, some in the SA and on the Assembly thought they were echoing the voice of the people by trying to push the matter to a student-wide vote. All they did was waste everyone’s time.
The in-fighting and politicking of the SA and Assembly members — one Assembly representative has already declared candidacy for the spring’s presidential race — are embarrassments.
The student government is saved from a failing grade because of the low expectations we entered with, and the fact that the OCCT blue buses are still running.
Men’s Soccer: A
Five consecutive America East finals appearances and the best GPA in the nation among over 200 NCAA Division I teams. There’s nothing more you could ask of this team.
City of Binghamton: Incomplete
We don’t yet know what the city’s Housing Commission will recommend to the mayor and city council when it delivers its final report, but a November open forum led us to believe that it wants the number of people (read: students) who can live in a single West Side home limited.
We hope that better policing and code enforcement are the Commission’s recommendations for dealing with incidents like the one last spring at 8 Lincoln Ave. — where students were allegedly disruptive to neighbors and illegally living together — instead of newer, broader legislation that would destroy the Downtown experience.
New York state: F
System-wide, tuition’s jumping at least $300, and most of the money isn’t going to SUNY. It’s going to the state to help patch up other financially sore areas that rely so heavily on a faltering Wall Street. Even with a tuition increase, BU is looking at a $4.2 million cutback. Pay more, get less — we love New York.
Student character: B
Separate incidents involving men’s basketball players, Miladin Kovacevic’s alleged spring beating of another student, which is still in the news today, and Malik Alvin’s alleged condom heist from Wal-Mart in October, have tarnished BU’s image to the general public, but we’re impressed with most everything else. Students have turned out to support Sodexo, rallied for the VPMA and emphatically showed up at the Housing Commission’s forum. Most remarkable, however, was the whirlwind run through campus on Election Night.
Administration: F
Parking lots have sprung up mysteriously. Budget cuts are coming and we’re kept in the dark. Students are still forced into triples. Perhaps worst of all is the University’s blind eye to Sodexo which, despite offering poor wages to begin with, has asked employees to pay 25 percent of their health care going forward.
We sit through ethics classes only to see immorality in the dining hall afterward.
Oh, and the University almost stood by idly as the buses stopped running.